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By Jacob Sisneros | Long Beach Post

Published Sep 1, 2026 10:30 AM

Housing & Homelessness

Long Beach is fencing off the tunnel under Ocean Boulevard to keep people from living there

By Jacob Sisneros | Long Beach Post

Published Sep 1, 2026 10:30 AM

A work vehicle is parked in front of a fenced off area underneath a street.

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Fed up with people living in and starting fires in a historic tunnel under downtown, the city of Long Beach has started building a fortified metal fence to keep them out.

The Jergins Tunnel below Ocean Boulevard has been sealed up for decades, but after the pandemic, when the city’s homeless population saw a sharp increase, it became a problem. People managed to get past the wood panels intended to block access, and firefighters had to douse fires inside at least four times since 2022. People’s charred belongings and makeshift bedding were often visible afterward.

Brett Ales, who owns the nearby Beach Hut Deli, said it had gotten so bad that there was a noticeable smell if you got close to the tunnel’s entrance.

After a fire in September last year, the city put together plans for a heavy-duty fence to “improve site security, reduce the potential for vandalism and fires and help protect the structural integrity of the tunnel,” Public Works spokesperson Jocelin Padilla wrote in an email.

A black metal fence stretches down a street overlooking a cement area with blue barriers. Office buildings and palm trees are in the background.

The city would not say how much the new fence is expected to cost. Padilla said $156,200 has been spent so far on materials and labor, and the project won’t be finished until mid-to-late September.

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What is the historic Jergins Tunnel?

The 181-foot-long, 30-foot-wide tunnel was built by local businessman Andrew Jergins in 1927. It allowed pedestrians to visit the old Pike amusement park without dodging cars on Ocean Boulevard.

The tunnel was used regularly until 1967, when Ocean Boulevard was widened and the tunnel’s two entrances were sealed off.

It sat underneath the Jergins Trust Building until 1988, when it was torn down.

A tunnel dimly lit by a work light on the floor.

It sat largely unnoticed by anyone — except for local history buffs — until it got a sudden burst of attention in 2022 when pop star Lana Del Rey released a song titled “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.,” with lyrics about the tunnel’s “mosaic ceilings” and “painted tiles.”

Instead of leaving it to decay, some locals have sought ways to revive the tunnel as a monument to Long Beach’s history.

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What happened to the plan for a Hard Rock Hotel?

In 2023, city leaders promised a huge makeover. They said the Jergins Tunnel would become a speakeasy and music venue underneath a new 31-story Hard Rock Hotel at the corner of Ocean and Pine.

Construction was supposed to begin in the summer of 2024, with an opening date in spring 2027, but shovels have yet to hit the ground.

Mayor Rex Richardson, a man with dark skin tone, wearing a suit and tie, speaks into a handheld microphone and gestures with his hand as he stands in front of signage that has a rendition of a tall building and text that reads "Hard Rock Hotel. Long Beach."

It’s unclear what the holdup has been. The permits to build it are so old they’re about to expire, but the development company, Steinhauer Properties, has requested an extension, and the city has discretion to grant it, said Craig Nakano, a spokesperson for Community Development.

The city anticipates hearing an update on plans for the hotel as soon as the fall, Nakano said.

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Steinhauer Properties did not respond to an email and phone message requesting comment.

More fences to block homeless people

The fence around the Jergins Tunnel is the second to be erected around a downtown landmark recently.

The city spent $811,449 building one around the Billie Jean King Main Library, blocking off much of its outdoor terrace that was often crowded with tents and sleeping bags.

City officials say fewer people are camping out on the terrace, clearing up space for outdoor library programs and saving them $70,000 so far on power washing the sidewalk.

A metal fence surrounds a building as some people sit and lay outside of it.

Nevertheless, the fence became a flashpoint for residents concerned about how much it cost and a symbol of Long Beach’s failure to reduce homelessness.

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A citizens’ advisory committee on homelessness policy wrote a letter to the mayor and City Council saying that money would have been better spent housing people than clearing them off a sidewalk.